Baby crib bumpers and playpen liners come in many sizes and shapes. Protective liners protect babies and small children from the underlying wooden, metallic and otherwise hard structures and even prohibit siblings from poking sharp objects into the playpen. Crib liners also prohibit children from extending and getting their limbs caught between crib slats during sleep and slumber. Crib bumpers or rail guards also prohibit children from chewing on crib rails and ingesting harmful and toxic chemicals. Crib bumpers and playpen liners are therefore useful and often necessary for the proper care of babies and small children.
However, many liners may isolate a child from his or her surrounding environment. Some liners may even obstruct a child's view of his or her surroundings that otherwise are visible through the crib or playpen slats. Studies performed by neuroscientists have shown that children need stimulus and interaction to properly develop mentally and physically. They have shown that a child's brain is extremely impressionable and has a high degree of ‘plasticity’ to learning events and enriching stimuli. However, this plasticity has both a positive and a negative side. On the positive side, children's brains are able to retain a variety of experiences and learn quickly. On the negative side, it also means that young children's brains are more vulnerable to developmental problems should their environment prove especially impoverished or un-nurturing.
Therefore, a market and a long felt need exists for a protective crib and playpen liner which not only protects a child from the hard and damaging underlying structures of a crib or playpen but also provides enriching stimulus and learning events for the proper mental and physical development of the child placed therein.